I work in high school so i have a few weeks in summer and a week in spring and autumn, then couple of weeks during xmas, so plenty of opportunities to have a trip abroad. plane tix these days are relatively cheap to US, so a 1-2 weeks of hols are within reach. I am really tempted to fly there and buy what i want from a pool of hundreds of CS Pauls and SGs, as opposed to choosing from a handful of totally random* guitars sent to dealers in EU. I drove from North Wales to Frankfurt to buy my custom les paul and i saw a few at Musik Schmidt, all of them shredded to death by staff and clients, because thats the only opportunity for many of them to see and try one out. they are still being sold as NEW, but when i asked the staff to show me ONE box with an intact seal, they had nothing to show me. Fvck that, I says. I am happy to spend 350£ on a plane to NY or wherever and shop around.
* - they may seem random, but they are not. Just the fact that local dealers dont want to commit to a guitar with a bigsby or with a single 'bucker, is a limitation. they are a random batch of the most commonly sold and accessible guitars. getting a guitar with a koa or with two necks.... not a chance.